Nice to meet you: A new project invites Israelis to meet those beyond the stereotypes
In-depth tours, personal meetings, and local food — the "Na'im Le'hakir" project aims to reduce alienation between different parts of Israeli society.
A new social project called "Na'im Le'hakir" ("Nice to meet you") is launching inter-community introductory tours across the country. The initiative seeks to offer a response to a reality where Israeli society feels divided and saturated with stereotypes, focusing on human connection rather than interaction through screens.
The project invites the public to in-depth tours in small groups, during which participants enter living spaces unfamiliar to them. The tours expose the diversity of Israeli society — from ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods to kibbutzim and moshavim, from Judea and Samaria to Tel Aviv, from the periphery to the world of local agriculture.
Each tour lasts about three hours and includes a walk through the local area, meetings with community members, open conversation, personal stories, and a taste of local cuisine. The project emphasizes that the goal is not to "learn about the other" from the outside, but to meet, ask, and listen up close.
Beyond its social value, the initiative offers a unique tourist and cultural experience: an opportunity to enter places not usually open to the general public and to get to know Israel from a different angle.
The project leaders state:
"When people truly meet people, the conversation changes. It is much harder to hold onto prejudices when a person, a story, a home, a family, and a community stand before you. The encounter itself opens a door to curiosity and understanding."
